Machine gun



Mar. 6, 1923.

G. HAZELTON MACHINE GUN vle, 1919 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Mar.

Mar. 6, 1923.

G. HAZELJroN MACHINE GUN Filed Mar. 19, 1919 2 sheets-sheet 2 WW, hw, huw 1,; M

iPatentes/i Mar.. 3, E323.

serrer fer@ GEORGE HAZELTON, lE' WEITEHALL, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR T@ VICKERS LIMITED, 0F WESTMINSTER, LONDON', ENG-LAND.

MACHINE GUN'.

Application 1ed March 19, 1919. Serial No. 283,610.

(GRANTED UNDER. THE PROVISIONS 0F THE ACT 0F MARCH 3, v1921, 41'STAT. L., 1313.)

To all lwhom 'may concern:

Be itknown thai'l I, GEORGE I-IAzEL'roN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at the Admiralty, Whitehall, in the 5 county of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Machine Guns, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machine guns of the kind in which the barrel recoils and the lock reciprocates vas in the well known Vickers automatic gun for example and has for its chief object to enable a more rapid rate of lire to be obtained than has hitherto been practicable in guns of this kind.

According to this invention there is 'provided at the muzzle end of the gun a piston-like member formed on or secured to the gun barrel and contained in a fixed cylinder or cup having an opening in line with the bore of the gun barrel for the bullet to pass through and also having one or more lateral apertures or ports disposed behind the position occupied by the piston-like member when the gun barrel is stationary and the gun ready for firing, so that the piston-like member must move rearwardly with the gun barrel a certain distance before the apertures or ports are uncovered to allow the escape of the propellant gases, and there is also provided in addition to the usual main or fuses spring of the gun an auxiliary spring which is mounted on or otherwise arranged to act upon the barrel or piston-like a5 member and which acts as abuffer for the barrel on the recoil stroke and then after the barrel is brought to rest, acts as a quick return spring.

In the preferred form the inner face of 4cv the cylinder is shaped to trap to some extent the propellant gases so as to cause a rapid building up of back pressure on the pistonlike member. This may be conveniently effected by forming the inner face with one 45 or more recesses or pockets or similar part-s.

Where required, the main or fusee spring' of the gun can be arranged to have its leverage slightlyincreased at or near the termination of the rearward movement of the lock so as to retard suddenly this movement 'of the lock and to increase the 'speed at which the lock returns towards its ring po- 'sition rlhis may be conveniently arranged by making the rear one of the usual two links connecting the spring to the fusee to take a higher or lower path than is usual such as by forming the fusee with an enlargement or by securing a cam shaped or like part thereon. Y

The accompanying drawings illustrate a gun of the kind referred to embodying this lnvention. Figs. 1 and l are longitudinal sections showing as viewed from the right a Vickers automatic gun provided with the 1mprovements, 65

Figure 2 is an enlarged section of the muzzle end of the gun as viewed from the left,

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the fusee and its parts as viewed from the left with the usual cover plate for lthe main or fusee spring removed. Figures 4 and 5 are elevations at right angles to each other of a cushioning and return spring of a dierent form from that shown in Figures `l and 2 and advantageously employed when the gun is mounted on aircraft or in other places where feeding in of a fresh cartridge belt requires special consideration as will be hereinafter ex lained.

he gun barrel l is provided at its muzzle end with a cap or piston 2 working within a cylinder or cup 3 having its outer end 4 formed wit-h an aperture 5 in line with the bore of the barrel so that the bullet can travel through the bore, the piston 2 and the 85 cylinder 3, without hindrance. The said piston 2- may be connected to the barrel in the same way as the corresponding part of the existing muzzle attachment of the Vickers automatic gun and may be of similar formation. The inner face of the outer end 4 of the said vcylinder or cup is shown as formed with an annular recess or pocket 6 with the inner edge sloped as shown to cause the pro-- pellant gases travelling behind the 4bullet 96 and entering said cylinder or cup to be readily deiiected laterally with respect to the barrel and to some extent trapped between the outer end of the cylinder 3 and the piston 2 to cause a rapid building up of back 10e pressure on the latter. In the wall of the cylinder 3 and in a position behind that occupied by the piston 2, when the gun is ready for firing, a number of holes or ports 7 are formed which become uncovered by the 105 travel of the piston 2 to the rear, so that on .ton 2 which can t-ravel rearward a predetermined distance before .compressing the spring against a xed artl:l of the gun.

This spring cushions te recoil movementafter a certain interval of time has elapsed and also assists in the return of the barrel and the piston 2 tothe correct working position for firing. The auxiliary spring may be placed in any other suitable position than that shown to e'ect the same actions on thel barrel.

When a machine gun arranged as above described is mounted on aircraft it may be necessary to provide a device other than the usual crank handle for manuall causing rearward movement of the barreA and the lock when a fresh cartridge `belt has to be fed in. A device for this purpose is already known in aerial gunnery and consists of a hand lever workin@ in conjunction with the usual crank handlbe so as to simulate the movements of the barrel and thel lock that occur when the n is actually firing. With a sprin of helical form as shown in Figure l, t e necessary movements may not be possible owing to the fact that the length of the spring when fully compressed prevents the necessary degree of retraction of the barrel from taking place to allow a fresh belt to be fed in. rlhis difficulty may be overcome by employing (instead of the helical spring 8) a conical spring 9 as shown in Figures 4 and 5 which when subjected to compression under the action of the hand lever and crank handle above referred to, occupies only a small length on the gun barrel, so that the necessary rearwardmovement of the barrel can be obtained for feedy ind ina fresh cartridge belt. n

y suitably designing the parts at the muzzle end of the gun and the cushioning spring, a considerablevariation in the speeding up of the rate ofire of the gun can be effected without its being necessary to vary the tension of the main or fusee spring of the gun. In cases, however, where it may be desired to cause the leverage. of the main or fusee spring of the gunt be increased at` or near the termination of the rearward movement of the lock of the gun to cause a quicker retardation of this movement and a uicker return of the lock to the normal ring position, this can be effected by providing the usual fusee 10 ,with a block 11 of cam or other suitable shape, so that the rear link 12 ofthe usual two links connecting the fusee 10 to the spring 13, is caused at the termination of its movement to take a higher or lower path as the case may be, than is usual in the normal construction for this part of the n. The aforesaid block is but seldom regulred to be embodied in the gun, as the desired increase in the rate of lire vcan bei obtained b the gun is ready for firing, and within which the muzzle of the gun barrel is situated, the ysaidE port or ports being passed by the said member, when the gun is fired, to allow the gases in the cup to escape, and a spring additional to the main spring of the gun, arr n ed to act upon the barrel to constitute a bu er on the recoil stroke and a quick return means after the recoil movement of the barrel has been arrested, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. ln a machine gun of the barrel reco-iling type, the combination with the reciprocating lock, the main fusee spring and the fusee upon which said spring operates, of means for increasing the leverage of the said spring at or near the termination of the rearward movement of the lock.

3. ln a machine gun of the barrel recoiling type, the combination with the reciprpeating lock, the main fusee spring and the fusee upon which said spring operates, of links interposed between sai'd spring and said fusee, and a block on said fusee, which block at or near the termination of the rearward-movement of the lock comes against the rear one of said links to cause it to take a path further away from the axis of movement of the fusee than is customary. Y

4. l'n a machine gun Vof the barrel recoiling type, the combination with a piston-like vmember; on theggun' barrel, of a cylinder in which said meinber moves during the recoil and forward movement-s of the barrel, said cylinder being provided with an o ening in line with the bore of the barrel an with one or more lateral ports situated in a position behind that normally occupied -by the pistonlike member when the gun is ready for firing, of a reciprocating lock, av main fusee spring, a fusee upon which said spring operates and means for increasing the leverage of said spring at or near the termination of the rearward movement of the lock.

5.v In a machine gun of the barrel recoiling type, the combination with a piston-like member on the gun barrel, of a. cylinder in which said member moves during the recoil and forward movements ofthe barrel, said cylinder being provided with an opening in roo line with the bore of the barrel and with ofthe rearward movement of the lock comes 1'0 one or more lateral ports situated in a posiagainst the rear one of said links to cause it ytion behind that normally occupied by the to take a path further away from 'the axis of piston-like memberwhen the gun is ready movement of the fusee than is customary.

`operates, links interposed between said Witnesses:

for firing, of a reciprocating, lock, a main In testimony whereof, I aiix my sinature fusee spring, a fusee upon which said spring GEORGE HAZEL ON.

'spring and said fusee, and a block on said ARTHUR JAMES HALL,

usee which block at. or near the termination R. BAGGori'r. 

